Myanmar likely to announce repatriation of 300 Rohingyas today

14 Mar 2018, 13:19

NTV Online

The Myanmar government is likely to give an update on Wednesday over the list handed over to it by Bangladesh regarding the reparation of Rohingyas in the first phase.

It seems that they will announce the repatriation of around 300 Rohingyas out of 8,032 of the list at a press conference in Naypyidaw at 2pm local time though over 1 million Rohingyas are now living in Bangladesh, a diplomatic source told UNB.

‘Nothing is sure. Let’s wait until the announcement comes,’ the source said, adding that the international press and diplomats are also invited to attend the briefing. Deputy Minister for Information Aung Hla Tun will brief the reporters, reports the UNB.

Bangladesh had handed over a list of 1,673 Rohingya families (8,032 individuals) to Myanmar to start the first phase of repatriation of the displaced people to their homeland in Rakhine state.

‘The Myanmar side has cordially accepted the list,’ Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had told reporters on the day after over three hours of meeting with his Myanmar counterpart at the Secretariat in Dhaka.

Myanmar scrutinised the list and names and will get back to Bangladesh on Wednesday.

There was no specific timeframe to start the repatriation but he had expressed the hope that it would start soon.

On November 23, Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an ‘arrangement’ on the return of displaced Myanmar persons sheltered in Bangladesh.

They later signed a document on ‘Physical Arrangement’ which will facilitate return of Rohingays to their homeland from Bangladesh.

The ‘Physical Arrangement’ stipulates that the repatriation would be completed preferably within two years from the commencement of repatriation.